Final Fantasy III (VI) Interview in Electronic Gaming Monthly with Yusuke Hirata | Final Fantasy | Know Your Meme

ECM'S Nob (our ace editor in Japan) arranged a special interview with Mr. Yusuke Hirata, the general manager of the publicity department of Square Co. Ltd. In Japan, you have already released six official Final Fantasy games. When were these released, and how well did they sell? The original FF was launched in December 1987. Approximately 600,000 were sold in Japan. The NES version sold better, registering sales of approximately 700,000. The Famicom FF2 and FF3 were respec- tively launched in December 1988 and April 1990. Their sales were approxi- mately 800,000 and 1.4 million units respectively. These were never translat- ed. Final Fantasy IV, our first Super Famicom RPG, registered sales of approxi- mately 1.5 million upon its release in July 1990. FFIV was translated as the Supe NES FF2 which sold about 300,000 units. FFV was released at the end of 1992 and has sold approxi- mately 2.4 million units. The newest title, FFIV, was released in April of this year. It has become our biggest hit ever, with sales reaching approximately 2.55 million units. We hope the Super NES FF3 will echo the success of FFVL in America. In total, the entire FF series has registered sales of approximately 9.25 million units in Japan, and 2.2 million units overseas, so close to 11.5 million units all told. "We feel that the game has been designed to enable virtually all gamers to adjust configurations to suit their playing styles." Incidentally, we also repackaged FF1 and 2 Together onto a single Famicom cartridge earlier this year in Japan. Besides the official titles, are there so-called Gaiden (side story) games that have spun off from the series? The Super NES FF Mystic Quest comes to mind. The Game Boy Seiken Densetsu (Legend of Holy Sword) was subtitled FF Gaiden in Japan, and called Final Fantasy Legend overseas. About 700,000 units were sold in all, with about half a million being sold in Japan. Its sequel, Seiken Densetsu 2, came out for the SFC last year. You might know this better as Secret of Mana! It has almost gone double platinum. Mystic Quest was released in America long before the Japanese version was translated from it. All told, it sold approximately 800,000 units, 50-50 between the SFC and Super NES versions. 8-Bit FF21 and FF3 because of the market condi- tions, it would be a shame if American gamers couldn't experience the outstanding FFV. At present, we haven't come to any decisions. FFVI is widely hailed as the best ever in the series. Will the Super NES version be altered in any way from the SFC version other than translat- ing the text? For example, the Super NES FF2 was made considerably simpler to play than the original SFC FFIV. Will such balance adjustments be made? designed to enable virtually all gamers to adjust configurations to suit their playing styles. to FANTASY III for the FF series titles. Besides these, arranged versions based on the original soundtracks such as orchestral arrangements have also been released for every title. The 3-CD FFVI original soundtrack has been our biggest seller date, with sales topping 200,000 units. We haven't made particularly noteworthy changes. We feel that the game has been We spent about a year and a half. 2 How many people were involved in the game's production? In total, about 30. There are five planners, five programmers, 10 graphic artists, and two music. people. The rest are assistants. Including planning, how long did FFVI take to that is better than the one before it. produce? Are development teams always composed of identical members? Or do key people assemble separate development teams for each title? ZEL We assemble a new team for each title. However, the main people remain constant including our vice president, Hironobu Sakaguchi, who is the driving force behind the series. We are always astounded by the superb music in FF games. Who is the composer? N The man responsible for all the FF music Nobuo Uenatsu, our resident maestro. Do you plan to make any other Gaiden-type games? Nothing has been decided. Is there any plan to release the yet untranslated FF games? Although it may be difficult to do the CHRONO TRIGGER Y Square's latest RPG masterpiece will be the upcoming Chrono Trigger. The gem of this piece is that Dragon Quest (Dragon Warrior) scenario writer Yuji Horii and artist Akira Toriyama have joined forces with Square on this project! 172 Electronic Gaming Monthly In Japan, the soundtracks of FF titles are avail- able on CD. How big is the lineup? Are these music CDs popular? CDs of all original soundtracks have been released The evolution of game systems has been amazing. Are system improvements based on feedback from fans to a certain extent? 13 All system enhancements and features are based on the original ideas of our development staff. FFVI appears to have established an incredibly high standard of quality. Although it is premature, can FFVII keep up the series tradition of besting the game before it? Our development staff upholds a policy of always using the best techniques available at the time. Each development team therefore aims to make a game In Japan, a FF anime series was produced. Which game is the story based on? Will it be released in America? The story is set in the world of FFV, but 150 years later. We are presently considering releasing it in America. Is there any possibility of seeing FF titles on the Ultra 64 and/or other next generation systems? We are evaluating possibilities. On a purely hypothetical level, we think that the odds are slightly better for Ultra 64 than other new game systems. Finally, how about a few words for the Square fans in America? We will stand by our policy of consistently making games that betray your expectations for the better Count on us for games that will make you go "Wow!" MHGH She used magic ? ANDZ + アイテム ne Thurs - -

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Origin Entry: Final Fantasy

Notes:

This interview appeared in EGM #63 as part of several pages of FF3/6 coverage. Note the Chrono Trigger teaser at the bottom of the page.

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